


We were on a break

by Mostly_Marvel_Musings



Series: We were on a Break [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Post-Avengers (2012), Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:47:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26370628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mostly_Marvel_Musings/pseuds/Mostly_Marvel_Musings
Summary: Circumstances have led (Y/N) and Tony to part ways. Continuing to work with Shield, a latest mission requires you and a few others to track down a business tycoon who could possibly be working for Hydra. Your plan to get into the man’s inner circle goes awry when a remorseful Tony shows up at the mission location.
Relationships: Avengers Team & Reader, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Reader, Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Reader
Series: We were on a Break [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916362
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Let’s get one thing out of the way, Friends is my favorite TV show of all time hence the title (I’m very cheesy like that). This was a dream I had a few days ago & I decided to jot it down. Rest is weaved out of my perpetual day-dreaming capabilities.

**Prologue**

…

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Your voice came out weak and tired. Tired of having the same argument over and over again. It had become a pattern at this point, Tony spending hours on end in the lab with Bruce, your attempts of having a decent conversation with the man going to shit because he kept you and everyone else out of the loop. And now, his plan of building a ‘suit of armor’ around the world had gone horribly wrong.

“Look the program went to shit but I think we can deal-Wait. What did you say?” Tony turned to look at you.

You were quiet. Too quiet.

He knew this was never good. He was used to your yelling, arguing self when he was sure things would eventually simmer down. You were slumped in a lab chair, eyes puffy and sleep deprived gaze fixed on the floor.

He walked over and knelt in front of you, repeating the question. Maybe he heard you wrong.

“I said I can’t do this. Not anymore.” Eyes still fixed on the floor, refusing to look at him. One look into those doe eyes and you knew you’d crumble.

“Because I missed a few dates?” he scoffed, instantly regretting said words. He knew you weren’t one of those who’d throw tantrums over trivial things.

This pissed you off. You finally looked up at his equally sleep ridden face before raising your voice,

“Because you built a fucking murder bot! You went against the team Tony.”

He got up and started pacing the length of the room, “You think Capsicle would’ve let me tinker with the sceptre if I’d asked nicely? I did it to protect us, the world, everyone!”

“Look how that turned out. When you trashed your suits I assumed you’d stopped for good. Clearly I was wrong. Instead, you built something much worse.”

Silence hung heavy for a few minutes. You were waiting for him to make excuses, try and defend his decisions like he always did.

“I messed up okay. The team’s pissed and I know you are too. Just I-I need time to make things right. I will.” His voice turned soft as he faced you once more, hoping you would understand.

You shook your head as you stood up, a look of defeat on your face, “You can have all the time in the world. Not mine. I’m done. I need a break.”

“So you’re just gonna leave?” he feared your answer, yet couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“You’re not gonna stop Tony that’s the truth. Because you don’t want to. I can’t watch you destroy yourself in the process. Have fun with your toys.”

You glanced in his direction once but didn’t wait for him to answer and walked out of the lab, making your way to your shared room and began packing. Deep down you were hoping he’d follow you and try to get you to stay, but he didn’t.

That broke you.

The elevator was taking forever to reach your floor, your foot tapped impatiently. You were hoping to leave before anybody from the team could confront you and ask questions. As you looked around the place one last time, happy memories crawled through making your promise to not have a breakdown wear thin.

_Pull yourself together, you aren’t gonna cry now. Not here,_ you kept repeating this in your head.

The ding of the elevator made you snap out of your reverie and step in. Leaning on the arm rest, you closed your eyes and let a few stray tears escape.

“Friday, tell Mr Stark I left his anniversary gift on the nightstand, if he ever decides to pay our-his bedroom a visit. And call me cab will you” you sniffed.

“Certainly Miss (Y/L/N).” her empathic voice chimed through the elevator.

…

It was a languorous Saturday morning. You had plans of spending the day in your pyjamas watching nonsense TV.

You had overworked yourself these past few weeks at the Shield headquarters on purpose. Keeping busy kept obsessing over your break-up thoughts at bay. After work you’d come back to your apartment and simply crash. Only to wake up the next day and repeat the ordeal.

Right as you settled on the couch, your phone buzzed annoyingly, glancing at the caller you scrambled up to answer quickly as you saw the name.

“(Y/N), we need you to come down here at the headquarters.” Maria Hill’s voice came through, she sounded serious.

“Sure. Everything okay?” you spoke simultaneously pulling out your work clothes from your messy cupboard.

“Just get here quick.” She cut the call immediately. Yep something’s terribly wrong.

Changing and driving to HQ at record speed you headed straight to Agent Hill’s office and knocked, after hearing a ‘come in’ you pushed the door open to find Maria Hill in her chair and a widely grinning Clint Barton standing next to her.

Narrowing your eyes at him, you asked, “Agent Hill you needed me. What’s with the smile Barton?”

“You’ll see.” He answered just as Maria rounded her table and stood in front of you.

“Taking your contributions to the past missions and field work into consideration, you’ve been promoted Agent (Y/L/N). You are now a Level 8 Shield Agent.” She offered her hand for you to shake. You stood still in disbelief.

_You had to be dreaming!_

“Congratulations. You officially have a higher security clearance than Mr Barton over here.” She added with a smile and an encouraging pat on your back, before returning to her desk.

Clint walked closer and enveloped you in a big hug and laughed, “Told you. You deserve it (Y/N/N).”

You hugged him back as you let the words finally sink in.

You had dedicated your life to Shield ever since you joined all those years ago. Clint had been there right from the start and had watched you grow from strength to strength. He was your best mate in the team along with Nat.

“You can expect a big party back at the tower (Y/N). I’ve informed Pepper already. I’m sure Tony’s planning something extravagant.” Agent Hill called out as you two separated.

She didn’t know. Clint did. But he kept mum.

“Oh umm. No actually I’m not staying at the tower anymore. Thank you Agent Hill, I’m honoured.” You muttered before turning back and walking out of her office.

Mumbling a quick ‘I’ll explain later’ to Maria, Clint followed and stopped you in your tracks.

“Wait up (Y/N/N). Come on this is huge. You’re celebrating with us. I’m calling Nat and Rogers, you can’t bail out this time.”

You had been avoiding their calls all week, not really wanting to explain yourself to anyone. You wanted everyone to leave you alone and let you mope.

But this was an achievement, a big one. And a little liquid courage hurt no one. He gave you ‘the look’ and you knew there was no point trying to change his mind, so you agreed.

…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s get one thing out of the way, Friends is my favorite TV show of all time hence the title (I’m very cheesy like that). This was a dream I had a few days ago & I decided to jot it down. Rest is weaved out of my perpetual day-dreaming capabilities.

Persistent ringing coming from somewhere on your left, brought you to consciousness. You groaned and turned away, hoping to block it out. Through half open eyes, you saw Clint scrambling about, trying not to trip on his own feet as he answered his phone.

He was speaking to his wife a bit too loudly for your hung over self, making you blindly reach for a pillow and throw it in his general direction. Natasha chuckled at your attempt as you saw her sitting up beside you, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Fuck off, Barton! It’s not even morning yet.” You grumbled, not bothering to actually check the time.

“It’s ten o’ clock, sleeping beauty. And Laura wants to talk to you.” Clint grinned as he handed you the phone, making you glare at him.

You weren’t exactly in the mood to have the ‘how are you holding up’ conversation post your break-up or break or whatever it was with Tony. But you knew you had to face Laura, she meant well and cared for you just like the other two agents currently lounging in your apartment.

Begrudgingly, you took the phone throwing the blankets away and walked out onto the balcony.

After fifteen long minutes of ‘it’s gonna get better sweetie’ and ‘you should come over for a chat’, you got back inside. A visit to the Barton household was due, given that Laura was expecting a baby and you missed her and the kids.

“So, did she give you her ‘you’re better off without him’ speech?” Natasha asked, walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, you following closely behind.

“Oh yes. Got the remix version of it.” chuckling, you shook your head as you sat down on the breakfast counter, waiting for either of the two to make coffee.

You partied a bit too much last night, a little at the bar, a lot back at your apartment. It ended with Clint showing off his archery skills in your balcony, and you bawling your eyes out over your failed relationships with Nat consoling you. You had also asked how Tony was doing in your drunken haze. As far as you remembered the conversation with Nat, he was equally distraught which relieved you to some extent.

“God we’re really getting old. My head is killing me.” You sat back on the sofa, massaging your temples.

“At least you don’t have to report to HQ today. Barton and I have a debriefing this afternoon.” Nat muttered, rolling her eyes as she sat opposite you on a lounge chair.

“So does (Y/N). She’s my boss now remember?” Clint yelled out from the kitchen, over the whirring sound of a blender. As happy as you were about the level up, you were in dire need of sleep.

Clint sauntered into the living room holding two large glasses of banana milkshake his hands, making you scowl. His famous hangover cure.

“Drink up boss. We gotta go.”

…

The HQ was bustling with agents as you arrived and headed straight for Maria Hill’s office. She called you in as Nat and Clint were summoned by another agent for some work.

You felt your stomach drop as you saw the man you never thought you’d see turn around in a swivel chair to look at you.

Your mouth went dry as you locked eyes with the man whom you hadn’t seen in weeks, who despite being described as ‘heartbroken’ by Nat had made no attempts of calling you. You didn’t expect him come begging but you hadn’t expected complete radio silence either, which had just added fuel to fire.

Cursing your mind to start functioning properly, you walked further into the office space, putting a considerable distance between you and Tony Stark.

Agent Hill cleared her throat snapping you back to reality.

“Agent (Y/L/N), glad you could join us. I was just finishing up here, let’s head to the conference room.”

_Couldn’t she have had you wait in there instead of here with him staring at your nervous form?_

He looked much more composed and unruffled than you, then again he’d been putting on a façade for media and the world for years now. He wasn’t a stranger to the practised ‘poker face’.

“Agent (Y/L/N)?”

You had been busy staring at the ground to notice Maria Hill holding the door open for you to step out and Tony was nowhere to be seen.

_When the hell did he walk out?_

You saw Tony and Maria exchange a hushed conversation from the corner of your eye as you continued to walk down the hall.

Mentally shaking yourself to get it together, you reached the conference room to find Clint, Agent Simmons, Agent Ward waiting for the debriefing to begin. You exchanged pleasantries, glancing at the door every now and then, in case Tony decided to show up here too. He didn’t.

Agent Hill walked in few moments later, alone. She gave you a cursory glance before sitting at the far end of the table.

“We have a lead on the man we’ve been tracking for months, Andrew Leeds. Agent (Y/L/N), this will be your first mission as a Level 8 agent. Safe to say these guys will be taking orders from you. But first, Mr Stark had some information on Leeds as he’s had an encountered him a few times.” Maria Hill began, the lights dimmed and the conference table converted into a screen, bathing the room in a blue white glow.

“Leeds has been dealing in weapons almost for as long as Stark Industries. They met at a convention once or twice. He has a close circle of four maybe five people who do his bidding and dirty work for him. The man has a reputation for hosting lavish parties and being a flirt.”

You kept your gaze on the screen below which flashed photos of your target at various events.

_Tony would never miss an opportunity to lead a team, even if it was just to give info. Why hadn’t he come in?_

Your alter ego rolled her eyes at the obvious. _He didn’t come in because of you._

Agent Hill began explaining the details on Leeds’ last known location, putting your obsessive thoughts on the backburner.

…

Natasha and Clint had to hang back so you drove back alone, picking up dinner from your favourite Thai place near your apartment. Throwing the keys in the bowl blindly, you switched on the lights and began stripping on your way to the bedroom for a shower.

Stepping out in a towel, you were rummaging through the underwear drawer when your phone buzzed. Putting on sweatpants and Tony’s old MIT hoodie that you never returned, you checked the notification.

_Congratulations on your promotion, Pep told me. You deserve it, Agent (Y/L/N). – T.S._

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated as always. :))

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is appreciated as always. :))


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